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Coach Critical Of Glasgow'S Poor Performance

Glasgow 12, Munster 37Glasgow succumbed to a thoroughly disappointing defeat by Munster this evening. The visitors comfortably took a bonus point from the Hughenden contest, scoring five tries to two in completing a home-and-away double against Glasgow in the Celtic League this season."It was one of the poorest performances by Glasgow," Hugh Campbell remarked. Everyone in the crowd of more than 2500 would agree with the Glasgow head coach."It was not the Glasgow team of the past three months," he added. "We made far too many mistakes, too many unforced errors."Glasgow's ball protection generally was not good. Specifically, passes out of tackles were too often loose, easy meat to the Munster predators, and the Glasgow kicking tended to be inaccurate, more in hope than aiming to turn the screws.Munster were not so dominant as the scoreline would suggest. But they made the most of what came their way. "Munster exploited mistakes - we didn't," the Glasgow coached pointed out.Glasgow's sub-par rugby was all the more disappointed when they were given an exemplary lead by Glenn Metcalfe as captain. On that form Metcalfe could still have been an asset to the national team.His saving tackle on Martin McPhail was - in defensive terms - a memorable point in the Glasgow game. The full back suddenly appeared like a bat out of hell to down McPhail as the wing seemed about to extend the 13-0 lead that Munster had gained from the first quarter, and a breakout by Metcalfe 15 minutes into the second half sparked a mini-recovery by the home team.Graeme Beveridge, picking up a Munster kick ahead, released Metcalfe on that weaving run from inside his own half into the visitors" 22, and, for once, Glasgow profited from good work. Stuart Moffat had a go at the line before Graeme Morrison scored the try.That pulled Munster back to 23-5, Moffat could not convert, and less than 10 minutes later Beveridge's quickly tapped close-range penalty allowed Rory Kerr to sprint through beside the posts. This time Moffat converted, and Glasgow were within 11 points. But Munster finished off with two more tries.Campbell had justifiable commendation for Metcalfe's work, and the coach had complementary words, too, for Moffat, who had to play more than half of the match in an unaccustomed position. He had to take over as stand-off after half an hour because Calvin Howarth was unwell. Despite Moffat's efforts, the loss of an experienced pivot severely hampered Glasgow in trying to crank their game up a gear or two, especially while Trevor Hogan was in the sin-bin because of his high tackle as Sam Pinder had taken only a couple of steps to run his quickly tapped penalty.That enforced change at outside half, though, was only a contributory factor in Glasgow's defeat. The prime reason was their failure to control the ball.It was not a good night for Scottish rugby. Edinburgh and The Borders also lost heavily to Irish opposition. The portents for tomorrow at Lansdowne Road were highly unfavourable. Edinburgh fell by 0-37 to Ulster at Ravenhill whereas the Borderers went down to Leinster by 12-35 at Donnybrook, and in the under-21 international at Blackrock this afternoon the Scots fell by 9-33, the Irish scoring five tries without reply.Glasgow - Glenn Metcalfe (captain); Rory Kerr, Graeme Morrison, Alan Bulloch, Sean Lamont; Calvin Howarth, Sam Pinder; Andrew Kelly, Simon Gunn, Euan Murray, Joe Beardshaw, Nathan Ross, Andrew Wilson, Rory McKay, Donnie Macfadyen. Substitutes - Stuart Moffat for Howarth (29 minutes), Scott Lawson for Gunn (33), Graeme Beveridge for Pinder (half-time), Andy Hall for Ross (47), Mark Sitch for Beardshaw (65), Gareth Maclure for Morrison (73).Tries, Morrison, Kerr; conversion, Moffat.Munster - Shaun Payne; John Kelly, Mossie Lawlor, Rob Henderson, Martin McPhail; Jason Holland, Eoin Reddan; Frank Roche, Jerry Flannery, Gordon McIlwham, Trevor Hogan, David Pusey, Eddie Halvey, Jim Williams (captain). Colm McMahon. Substitutes - Barry Murphy for Kelly (20-30), Martin Cahill for Roche (39), Stephen Keogh for McMahon (61), Peter Malone for Halvey (73), Ross Callaghan for McIlwham (77), Frank Murphy for Reddan (77), Conrad O'sullivan for Henderson (77). Sin-bin - Hogan (29).Tries, Kelly, McPhail, Henderson, Lawlor, Barry Murphy; conversions, Lawlor (3); penalty goals, Lawlor (2).Referee - David R Davies (Wales).Glasgow 12, Munster 37Glasgow succumbed to a thoroughly disappointing defeat by Munster this evening. The visitors comfortably took a bonus point from the Hughenden contest, scoring five tries to two in completing a home-and-away double against Glasgow in the Celtic League this season."It was one of the poorest performances by Glasgow," Hugh Campbell remarked. Everyone in the crowd of more than 2500 would agree with the Glasgow head coach."It was not the Glasgow team of the past three months," he added. "We made far too many mistakes, too many unforced errors."Glasgow's ball protection generally was not good. Specifically, passes out of tackles were too often loose, easy meat to the Munster predators, and the Glasgow kicking tended to be inaccurate, more in hope than aiming to turn the screws.Munster were not so dominant as the scoreline would suggest. But they made the most of what came their way. "Munster exploited mistakes - we didn't," the Glasgow coached pointed out.Glasgow's sub-par rugby was all the more disappointed when they were given an exemplary lead by Glenn Metcalfe as captain. On that form Metcalfe could still have been an asset to the national team.His saving tackle on Martin McPhail was - in defensive terms - a memorable point in the Glasgow game. The full back suddenly appeared like a bat out of hell to down McPhail as the wing seemed about to extend the 13-0 lead that Munster had gained from the first quarter, and a breakout by Metcalfe 15 minutes into the second half sparked a mini-recovery by the home team.Graeme Beveridge, picking up a Munster kick ahead, released Metcalfe on that weaving run from inside his own half into the visitors" 22, and, for once, Glasgow profited from good work. Stuart Moffat had a go at the line before Graeme Morrison scored the try.That pulled Munster back to 23-5, Moffat could not convert, and less than 10 minutes later Beveridge's quickly tapped close-range penalty allowed Rory Kerr to sprint through beside the posts. This time Moffat converted, and Glasgow were within 11 points. But Munster finished off with two more tries.Campbell had justifiable commendation for Metcalfe's work, and the coach had complementary words, too, for Moffat, who had to play more than half of the match in an unaccustomed position. He had to take over as stand-off after half an hour because Calvin Howarth was unwell. Despite Moffat's efforts, the loss of an experienced pivot severely hampered Glasgow in trying to crank their game up a gear or two, especially while Trevor Hogan was in the sin-bin because of his high tackle as Sam Pinder had taken only a couple of steps to run his quickly tapped penalty.That enforced change at outside half, though, was only a contributory factor in Glasgow's defeat. The prime reason was their failure to control the ball.It was not a good night for Scottish rugby. Edinburgh and The Borders also lost heavily to Irish opposition. The portents for tomorrow at Lansdowne Road were highly unfavourable. Edinburgh fell by 0-37 to Ulster at Ravenhill whereas the Borderers went down to Leinster by 12-35 at Donnybrook, and in the under-21 international at Blackrock this afternoon the Scots fell by 9-33, the Irish scoring five tries without reply.Glasgow - Glenn Metcalfe (captain); Rory Kerr, Graeme Morrison, Alan Bulloch, Sean Lamont; Calvin Howarth, Sam Pinder; Andrew Kelly, Simon Gunn, Euan Murray, Joe Beardshaw, Nathan Ross, Andrew Wilson, Rory McKay, Donnie Macfadyen. Substitutes - Stuart Moffat for Howarth (29 minutes), Scott Lawson for Gunn (33), Graeme Beveridge for Pinder (half-time), Andy Hall for Ross (47), Mark Sitch for Beardshaw (65), Gareth Maclure for Morrison (73).Tries, Morrison, Kerr; conversion, Moffat.Munster - Shaun Payne; John Kelly, Mossie Lawlor, Rob Henderson, Martin McPhail; Jason Holland, Eoin Reddan; Frank Roche, Jerry Flannery, Gordon McIlwham, Trevor Hogan, David Pusey, Eddie Halvey, Jim Williams (captain). Colm McMahon. Substitutes - Barry Murphy for Kelly (20-30), Martin Cahill for Roche (39), Stephen Keogh for McMahon (61), Peter Malone for Halvey (73), Ross Callaghan for McIlwham (77), Frank Murphy for Reddan (77), Conrad O'sullivan for Henderson (77). Sin-bin - Hogan (29).Tries, Kelly, McPhail, Henderson, Lawlor, Barry Murphy; conversions, Lawlor (3); penalty goals, Lawlor (2).Referee - David R Davies (Wales).